Polycom PDS 2000 manual

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The term originates from the Latin word „instructio”, which means organizing. Therefore, in an instruction of Polycom PDS 2000 one could find a process description. An instruction's purpose is to teach, to ease the start-up and an item's use or performance of certain activities. An instruction is a compilation of information about an item/a service, it is a clue.

Unfortunately, only a few customers devote their time to read an instruction of Polycom PDS 2000. A good user manual introduces us to a number of additional functionalities of the purchased item, and also helps us to avoid the formation of most of the defects.

What should a perfect user manual contain?

First and foremost, an user manual of Polycom PDS 2000 should contain:
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Why don't we read the manuals?

Usually it results from the lack of time and certainty about functionalities of purchased items. Unfortunately, networking and start-up of Polycom PDS 2000 alone are not enough. An instruction contains a number of clues concerning respective functionalities, safety rules, maintenance methods (what means should be used), eventual defects of Polycom PDS 2000, and methods of problem resolution. Eventually, when one still can't find the answer to his problems, he will be directed to the Polycom service. Lately animated manuals and instructional videos are quite popular among customers. These kinds of user manuals are effective; they assure that a customer will familiarize himself with the whole material, and won't skip complicated, technical information of Polycom PDS 2000.

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It is mostly in the manuals where we will find the details concerning construction and possibility of the Polycom PDS 2000 item, and its use of respective accessory, as well as information concerning all the functions and facilities.

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    1.0 | August 2010 | 3725-7860 0 -004A2 Polycom ® Digital Signage ™ (PDS ™ ) 2000 Administrator Guide[...]

  • Page 2

    © 2010 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserv ed. Polycom, Inc. 4750 Willow Road Pleasanton, CA 94588-2708 USA No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted i n any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the ex press written pe rmission of Polycom, Inc. Under the law, reproducing includes translating into a n[...]

  • Page 3

    Contents Polycom, Inc. 1 Contents About this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

  • Page 4

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide 2 Polycom, Inc. The PDS Player Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Current Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Default Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

  • Page 5

    Contents Polycom, Inc. 3 Screenshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 System Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Network Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

  • Page 6

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide 4 Polycom, Inc. Crawling Ticker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Slide Show Tickers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Video Slide Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

  • Page 7

    Contents Polycom, Inc. 5 Modifying Flipbook Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Adding and Editing a Crawl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Basic Crawl Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Creating a Manual Crawl . . . . . . [...]

  • Page 8

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide 6 Polycom, Inc. General Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Parsing Rule Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 GetImage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

  • Page 9

    Polycom, Inc. 7 About this Guide This introduction provides a brief overview of the Poly com Digital Si gnage Administrator Guide , describes the conventions used in this manual, and explains how to get additi onal information or support. Purpose The Polycom Digital Signage Admi nistrator Guide describes how to configure and use the Polycom Digital[...]

  • Page 10

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Customer Support 8 Polycom, Inc. Audience This guide is primarily for: • Polycom Digit al Signage Adminis trators - Respons ible for configuri ng and managing the Polycom appliance. You should have a working knowledge of media publication, periph eral ports, network protocols, and media streaming and ed[...]

  • Page 11

    Polycom, Inc. 1 About Polycom Digital Signage This chapter explains the Polycom Digi tal Signage architecture. This chapter includes the following sections: • Polycom Digit al Signage Solution • Architecture Overview Polycom Digital Signage Solution The Polycom Digital Signage solution is a combination of powerful applications, including the fo[...]

  • Page 12

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Architecture Over view 2 Polycom, Inc. Polycom Digital Signage W eb Controller The Polycom Digital Signage Web Controller soft ware lets users easily updat e and manage content on the Players in a Polycom Digital Signage network, with point-and-click simplicity. Polycom Digital Signage Agent The Polycom D[...]

  • Page 13

    Architecture Over view About Polycom Digital Si gnage Polycom, Inc. 3 Polycom Digit al Signage Player, and sends regular heartbeat and status messages to the Polycom Digital Signage Server. The Agent can also take steps to "heal" the Player if it detects a problem. Administrators monitor and manage th e system using the Polycom Digital Si[...]

  • Page 14

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Architecture Over view 4 Polycom, Inc.[...]

  • Page 15

    Polycom, Inc. 5 1 Configuring the PDS Player This chapter explains the basic configur ation processes for the Polycom Digital Signage Player. This chapter includes t he following sections: • About the PDS Player • Accessing the Player • Configuring the Player Directly • Configuring PDS Player Video Settings • Startup Settings • Options [...]

  • Page 16

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Configuring the Player Directly 6 Polycom, Inc. If using RDP to access a Player, you wi ll not be prompted to enter login credentials. Please note, however, that to reboot a PDS Player using RDP you will need to enter A LT + F4. This will launch a shut down dialog, from whic h you must select Restart . Co[...]

  • Page 17

    Configuring PDS Player Video Sett ings Configuring the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 7 Output Windows Settings The Output Window sect ion of Video Settings includes the following configuration options: • Standard: Specifies the dimensions of the video output window. Choose from a list of standard resolutions : 640x480, 720x480 (DV-NTSC), 7 20x486 (NTS[...]

  • Page 18

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Startup Settings 8 Polycom, Inc. • Full screen: When selected, the PDS Playe r output will be displayed in full screen mode (either on the primar y or secondary display). When unselected, the PDS Player output wi ll be displayed in a separate window. • Output Window Zoom: Select to resize the CG Rende[...]

  • Page 19

    Startup Settings Configuring the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 9 Settings defined in Startup Properti es le t you specify t emplates or scripts tha t may load when PDS Player initiall y launches, as well as application functions that may occur when PDS Player ini tially launches. Star tup Proper ties The Startup Propert ies settings of St artup Settings[...]

  • Page 20

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Options 10 Polycom, Inc. • Load previously loaded playlist on startup: When enabled, loads th e previously loaded playli st when the PDS Player launches. When disabled, the PDS Player launches remaining in a ready state with no content displayed on the CG output. • Minimize on startup: When enabled, h[...]

  • Page 21

    Options Configuring the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 11 General The General Settings panel allows admi nistrators to dictate certain general configuration settings for the CG Rendering engine that is lau nched by default from the PDS Player. The settin gs are described as foll ows: • Show rendere r control pan el: When enabled, displays the CG render[...]

  • Page 22

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Configuring PDS Player Advanced Settings 12 Polycom, Inc. Audio The Audio Settings of the Options window are described as follows: • Adjust volume o n slide load: When enabled, increases or decreases the audio output level based on the number configured in the Player Default Volume. • Use Default Volu[...]

  • Page 23

    Configuring PDS Player Advanced Settings Configuring the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 13 Renderer Settings The Renderer Settings options of Advanc ed Program Settings are described as follows: • Renderer IP Address: Displays the IP add ress of the rendering engine. • Renderer Executable Filename: Displays the executable filename that corresponds to[...]

  • Page 24

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Configuring PDS Player Advanced Settings 14 Polycom, Inc. • Command folder: Displays the folder to which the commands are stored on the system for use with other PD S applications such as Remote Manager, or Web Screens. Playout Settings The Playout Settings of the Advanc ed Program Settings are as follo[...]

  • Page 25

    Polycom, Inc. 15 2 Using the PDS Player This chapter outlines local control of the Polycom Digital Si gnage Player. In a typical implementation, however, all c onfiguration and content management will be pe rformed throug h the PDS Re mote Manager and PDS Web Controller . Please note that these tools are described in subsequent chapters. This chapt[...]

  • Page 26

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Getting Started 16 Polycom, Inc. 3 If you have elected not to use full -screen mode, the content will be displayed on the CG Rendering Window. To disable the CG Rendering Window, open Tools > Verti goCG and select Stop. Alternatively, pr ess A LT + E SC . Further controls for the CG Renderer are detail[...]

  • Page 27

    The PDS Player Interface Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 17 The PDS Player Inter face The PDS Player is designed to facili tate the task of playing out either individual templates, pl aylists, or creati ng schedules of events . Current Playlist Displays the directory path and name of the cur rently active playlist. Default Layer NOTE: Previously[...]

  • Page 28

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrato r Guide The PDS Player Interface 18 Polycom, Inc. Specifies the renderi ng layer in which a templat e loads. Options avai lable are Backgr ound and Foreg round . Default T ransition Specifies the default transition effect to be used in between templates loaded in a pl aylist. Tran sitions from which you can sele[...]

  • Page 29

    The PDS Player Interface Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 19 : Message Control • When Show Messages is enabled, displays messa ges from the PDS Pl ayer. The Clear button clears the contents of the Messages window. Current Output Window • When Enable Auto Screenshot is enabled, displa ys a preview of th e current output of the PDS Player. Butt[...]

  • Page 30

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guid e Scheduling Events with the PDS Player 20 Polycom, Inc. Scheduling Events with the PDS Player With the PDS Scheduler, you can create playout schedules for several different playlists, or ass ign PDS commands to occur at specific times throughout the day. Schedules can also include control events, such as [...]

  • Page 31

    Scheduling Events wi th the PDS Player Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 21 2 If the Schedule is presented by Mont h rather tha n Day, go to the View Mode box and select Day . 3 In the Day view, right-click on t he date and time at which to start playing the slideshow. From the Scheduler menu that appears, select Add Event… . The Add Schedule Ev[...]

  • Page 32

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guid e Scheduling Events with the PDS Player 22 Polycom, Inc. 4 In the Event box, select Load Present ation . You can also select any of the fo llowing and schedule its playout: Load Presentation: Schedules playout of a complete presentation. Load Sli de: Schedules playout of an indivi dual slide. You must sele[...]

  • Page 33

    Scheduling Events wi th the PDS Player Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 23 10 From the Recurrent Pattern options, set the frequency of rec urrence. Choosing Daily , Weekly , and Monthly will appear. 11 From the Range of Recurrence options, set start and end dates. 12 Click OK . 13 The scheduled presentation and any recurrences you spe cified appe[...]

  • Page 34

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guid e Scheduling Events with the PDS Player 24 Polycom, Inc. T o edit a scheduled event: 1 In the PDS Scheduler, select the event you want to edit and right-click. 2 In the menu that appears, select Edit Even t… The Add Schedule E vent dialog appears. T o immediately execute a scheduled event: 1 In the PDS S[...]

  • Page 35

    Controlling the V er tigoCG Renderer Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 25 Controlling the V er tigoCG Renderer The PDS Player lets you gain acc ess to the CG rendering engine directly. This lets you star t and stop the CG as desired. T o star t and stop the V er tigoCG, do the following: 1 In the PDS Player, choose Tools > VertigoCG > Start [...]

  • Page 36

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Controlling the V er tigoCG Renderer 26 Polycom, Inc. 4 Click Control Panel to launch the VertigoCG Control Panel. Hardware Settings allow users to choose a video card device for output, select video and audi o capture device s, whether to display the Renderer in full screen or in a moveable wind ow, the [...]

  • Page 37

    Controlling the V er tigoCG Renderer Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 27 5 The Software Settings tab provides another set of configuration options. Users can change the scene directory, dictate a log file, change the TCPIP Port for the CG Renderer, change the Cel Cache Size, and enable MipMapping, a faster but more memory -intensive form of rende[...]

  • Page 38

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Controlling the V er tigoCG Renderer 28 Polycom, Inc.[...]

  • Page 39

    Polycom, Inc. 29 3 Using the Remote Manager This chapter explains the interface and use cases for the Polycom Digital Signage Remote Manager. The ins tallati on of the Remote Manager is detailed in the Polycom Dig ital Signage S erver Getting Started Guide. This chapter contains the following sections: • Main Window • Tool Bar • Network and G[...]

  • Page 40

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Main Window 30 Polycom, Inc. The toolbars provide the buttons used fo r a number of high-level operations within PDS Remote Manager . Most ot her operations are available through dialog boxes that wi ll be displayed (e.g., on a Player name or thumbnail image). Networks and Groups Pane The Networks & G[...]

  • Page 41

    T ool Bar Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 31 Current Incidents Pane The Current Incidents pane show s the actual log message s from PDS Ser ver and the PDS Remote Mana ger. The events shown he re are all major and minor log messages from the Polycom PDS Ser ver and the PDS Remote Manager, including the events shown in the Events pane. Status[...]

  • Page 42

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide To o l B a r 32 Polycom, Inc. Auto-Refresh Menu The Auto-Refresh menu allows you to select the interval at which the status information in Remote Manager is refr eshed. This includes refreshing the screenshots as well as all other system information displayed in the different tabs in the Network pane. Ref[...]

  • Page 43

    T ool Bar Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 33 Publish New Content Click Publish Conten t to bring up the Publish C ontent dialog. The dialog has a Package Name field at the top (enter the name of your content package here) and three tabs in the main section: T o publish c ontent: 1 Click Add Files… to select files from your computer to be a[...]

  • Page 44

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide To o l B a r 34 Polycom, Inc. a The Assets tab and the Detail File List tab allow you to select from two different views of the list of files in the package . 2 Click Remove All to remove all of the asse ts from the package. (Select an asset and press the Delete key to remove only one asset from the packa[...]

  • Page 45

    T ool Bar Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 35 Remove Old Content If there is old content to be removed from the Players receiving the package, you can specify the file names for the old content in the Remove Old Content tab. Click "Add Files" to add fi les to the removal list and bring up the delet ion dialog: Execute Actions After [...]

  • Page 46

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide To o l B a r 36 Polycom, Inc. Publish Software Update Polycom Digit al Signage Remote Manage r can be used to publish routine software maintenance updates to the network of Player s. T o publish a software update: 1 Click Publish So ftware Update . 2 The Open Executable File dialog will appear. Choose a f[...]

  • Page 47

    Network and Groups Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 37 Network and Groups Pane The Networks & Groups pane shows a tr ee view of the hierarchy of networks and groups of Players managed by the PDS Server. The network or group you select here will select the Player s shown in the Network pane and the operations performed on those Player[...]

  • Page 48

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network and Groups Pane 38 Polycom, Inc. managers. One potential use case for mult iple networks is fo r an organization with multiple geographic locations an d unique content managers for each location. Groups can incorporate players across mu ltiple networ ks. Players can also be associated with multipl[...]

  • Page 49

    Network and Groups Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 39 Manage Players The Networks and Groups Pane allows direct configuration changes to the Players on a Server. 1 Right click on a Server, Network, or subnetwork in the Networks and Groups Pane. Select Manage Players from the context menu. 2 The Edit Properties of Players menu will appea[...]

  • Page 50

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network and Groups Pane 40 Polycom, Inc. Delete Of fline Players Offline Players can be deleted individ ually by right-clicki ng on the Player in the Connections tab of the Network pane. Alte rnatively, selecting Delete Offline Players will delete all offli ne Players in a network. Please note that online[...]

  • Page 51

    Network and Groups Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 41 Create New Network New Networks can be created by right-clicking on a Server in the Remote Manager. Subnetworks can be create d by right-clicking on a Network. 1 Right click on a Server, Network, or subnetwork in the Networks and Groups Pane. Select Create Network fr om the context m[...]

  • Page 52

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network and Groups Pane 42 Polycom, Inc. Manage Users 1 Right click on a Server, Network, or subnetwork in the Networks and Groups Pane. Select Manage Users from the context menu. 2 The Manage Accounts window will appear. 3 To delete an account, right-click on the username and select Delete Account . 4 Cl[...]

  • Page 53

    Network and Groups Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 43 — The Network Administrator oversees all configuration on a given network via the Remote Manager, as well as all content oversight abilities. — The Content Mana ger has content update privileges on a given network via the Web Controller; the Conte nt Manager can log into but make[...]

  • Page 54

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network Pane 44 Polycom, Inc. Network Pane The Network pane shows different properties of the Players that are in the network or group selected in the Networks & Groups pane. Manager List A list of managers appears below the Pl ayer list in the Network Pane. Details about managers currently online are[...]

  • Page 55

    Network Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 45 Double-clicking a manager’s user name launches a chat pop-up: Connections The Connections tab shows a table with one row for each Player. The table columns show the following in form ation for each Player: — Name — Online status — IP address — Network — Date and time it came online [...]

  • Page 56

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network Pane 46 Polycom, Inc. — Date and time the Player was last online (for offline Players) Note: — The name in the network column indicates the network to which the Player belongs, which is useful when you have selected a network or group that contains sub-networks or subgroups. — Players that a[...]

  • Page 57

    Network Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 47 — Time stamp (in Player local time) of the last screenshot sent to PDS Server — The full Windows file path of the currently running playlist Please note that: — Players that are currently offline wi ll be shown as dimmed, i.e., the text of their table row will be a light gray color, and y[...]

  • Page 58

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network Pane 48 Polycom, Inc. You can select the monitor whose image is used for the screenshots by selecting from the pop-up menu immediately below the screenshot viewi ng area. You can select PDS Output Screen (thi s is the defa ult option), System Primary Screen, or System Se condary Screen. (Note that[...]

  • Page 59

    Network Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 49 — Players that are currently offline wi ll be shown as dimmed, i.e., the text of their table row will be a light gray color, and you will not be able to perform most operations on them. — You can sort the table entries by clicking any of the column headings. The PDS Remote Manager will init[...]

  • Page 60

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Gu ide Remote Player Management Console 50 Polycom, Inc. Remote Player Management Console Double-clicking a Player in the Network pane (double-clicking th e Player row in a tabular view, or doubl e-clicking the Player's thu mbnail image in an image view) will bring up the PDS Remote Player Management Conso[...]

  • Page 61

    Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 51 To o l s M e n u The Tools menu contains the following options: — File Brow ser : Select this option to bring up a Fi le Manager view, browsing the Player's file system , in a separate window. The File Manager is described in detail below. —C l o s e : Select this o[...]

  • Page 62

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Gu ide Remote Player Management Console 52 Polycom, Inc. — In the Arguments field, enter the command-line parameters, if any. — In the Working Directo ry field, enter the full path of the director y (on the Player) that will be the work ing directory for the new process. — To cancel and return to the Remo[...]

  • Page 63

    Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 53 Monitoring S ettings The Monitoring Settings dialog box allo ws you to configure different settings for the Player Agent: • Enable Self-Healing allows the agent to take corrective action should a Player experience a problem playing out content. • Load last played p layli[...]

  • Page 64

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Gu ide Remote Player Management Console 54 Polycom, Inc. — Missing audio : This alarm condition occurs when the agent is not able to obtain any audio output from th e Player. This usuall y indicates a problem with the Player. (Note that Enable Audio Monitoring must be checked for this condition to trigger an [...]

  • Page 65

    Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 55 Status Detail Panel The Status Detail pa nel of the Remote Player Management Console provides granular and up-to-the-moment status information regarding the Player. The Status Detail panel also provides remo te proce ss management for the Player appliance. The Status Detail [...]

  • Page 66

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Gu ide Remote Player Management Console 56 Polycom, Inc. Running Processes The Running Processes tab functions as a process manager for the remote Player. • To stop a process running on the PD S Player, right-click on the process and click Kill Process.[...]

  • Page 67

    Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 57 Windows Ser vices The Windows Services tab displays the Windows services on the selected PDS Player. As with the Running Processes ta b, users can remotely start and stop these services when necessary. • To stop a running Windows service, right-click on the service and cl [...]

  • Page 68

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Gu ide Remote Player Management Console 58 Polycom, Inc. File Manager The File Manager allows direct manage ment of the files on the PDS Player. Using the File Manager, administrators can navigate through the files stored on the PDS Player. • If you wish to alter or edit a folder, right -click on the folder. [...]

  • Page 69

    Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 59 • Right-clicking on a file will launch the following pop-up: — View Tail: Launche s a text editor which displays the last 50 KB to 5 MB of data contained in a file. —E d i t F i l e : Launches a te xt editor with which us ers can edit files. — Copy Path to Cli pboard[...]

  • Page 70

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Gu ide Remote Player Management Console 60 Polycom, Inc. — Execute...: Executes a specific file. Please note that this function allows users to browse for files to run, rath er than using the Start Process item in the Remote Player Management Console Tool Bar. — Load...: Directly loads PDS Playlists an d Te[...]

  • Page 71

    Polycom, Inc. 61 4 Using the W eb Controller This chapter outlines the use of the Polycom Web Controller in content managment procedures. It cont ains the following sections: • About the PDS Web Controller • Installing the Web Controller • Opening the Web Controller • Web Controller Interface Guide • Control Panel • Playlist Editor • [...]

  • Page 72

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Installing the W eb Controller 62 Polycom, Inc. Installing the W eb Controller Web Controller is supported on Wind ows XP, Windows Vista (32 bit), and Windows 7 (32 bit). Wind ows Vista and Windows 7 require the additional pre-installation steps outlined below. Pre-Installation Procedures on Windows Vista[...]

  • Page 73

    Installing the W eb Controller Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 63 4 Designate a destinat ion for the file. The default directory, C:Program FilesPolyco mPDS Web Controller , is recommended. Click Next. 5 Choose a folder to appear in the Start Menu. Click Next .[...]

  • Page 74

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Opening the W eb Controller 64 Polycom, Inc. 6 A review screen will appear. Click Install . 7 Double click on the PDS Web Controller desktop icon to begin. Opening the W eb Controller When you first o pen the Polycom Digita l Signage Web Controller application, you will be prompted to ente r your login cr[...]

  • Page 75

    Opening the W eb Controller Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 65 Please note that you should not need to edit the TCP Port when using the default PDS Server configuration. Licensing the W eb Controller The Web Controller must be licensed prior to use. To license the Web Controller: 1 Navigate to File > License . 2 The License dialog will a[...]

  • Page 76

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide W eb Controller Interface Guide 66 Polycom, Inc. W eb Controller Inter face Guide After login and licensing, the Web Controller landing page appears.[...]

  • Page 77

    W eb Controller Interface Guide Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 67 Main Panel All content management and Player conf iguration tools reside in the Main Panel of the Web Control. Each tab is documented individually throughout the rest of the chapter.[...]

  • Page 78

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide W eb Controller Interface Guide 68 Polycom, Inc. Player Monitor Panel The Player Monitor Panel of the Web Controller user interface displays screenshots of all connected Players on the given networ k of the Polycom Digital Signage Server. Use the Zoom tool to change the level of resolution of the display.[...]

  • Page 79

    W eb Controller Interface Guide Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 69 2 The Full Screen Monito r pop-up will appear. 3 To change the Monitor view, open the Screen drop-down on the far left. Choose whether to view the PDS Output Screen, Syste m Primary Screen, or System Secondary Screen. For more information about using multiple sc reens with t[...]

  • Page 80

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide W eb Controller Interface Guide 70 Polycom, Inc. Changing the Layout To change the layout of the above panels, navigate to View and choose Horizontal Layout or Ver tical Layout. The Vertical Layout, selected by default, places the Monitor Panel to the right of t he Main Panel; the Horizontal Layout places[...]

  • Page 81

    Control Panel Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 71 Control Panel The Control Panel provides a set of dire ct controls over the Players in the associated network. The Control Pane l is the starting point for content management on Players. Grea ter detail is provided on the subsequent tabs in the PDS Web Controller, but the Control Panel gives [...]

  • Page 82

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Control Panel 72 Polycom, Inc. The Player Controls section allows immediate ch anges to be made to the Player. Unlike text edits or playlist changes elsewhere in the Web Controller , one click on each of these options will up date Players targeted in the selection wizard: • Clear Screen: resets the Play[...]

  • Page 83

    Control Panel Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 73 Selection Wizard After selecting one of the above options , the Player selection window will appear. Offline Pl ayers will di splay a darke ned screen; online Players will show a blue screen. Click OK . Editing the Announcement and Emergency Crawls Note: In order for the changes made in the P[...]

  • Page 84

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Control Panel 74 Polycom, Inc. The Announcement and Emergency Crawls can be edited, started, and stopped from the Control Panel. These crawls will not change or stop the playlist in progress but will instead ru n at the top of the screen. To publish a crawl to a PDS Player: 1 To change an announcement, ed[...]

  • Page 85

    Control Panel Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 75 Please note that the Emergency Crawl will appear in red: 4 To stop the crawl, click Stop Crawl in the Web Contr oller. The Player Selection screen will appea r again; indicate which Player you wish to target and click OK.[...]

  • Page 86

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 76 Polycom, Inc. Playlist Editor The Playlist Ed itor tab in the Web Cont ro ller provides controls over playlists displayed in the PD S Player. T o create, ed it, or play Play lists via the Playlist Editor: 1 Select a Playli st from the Available Playlists drop-down range.[...]

  • Page 87

    Playlist Editor Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 77 a To retrieve a specific Playlist from a player for editing, click Retrieve from Player. The Player Selection wind ow will appear; choose a player and a playlist and click OK. b To create a new playlist, click New . The Save As dialog appears. Enter a name and click OK. Alternatively, click[...]

  • Page 88

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 78 Polycom, Inc. 2 The Playlist wi ll then appear. 3 To add a template to the playlist: a Choose a template from the Available Templ ates drop-down menu. b Choose the duration in seconds fo r which the template will run. c Choose whether the item will run in the foreground (appropriate onl[...]

  • Page 89

    Playlist Editor Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 79 7 To remove a single te mplate, click the Remove link beside the template inside the Playlist. To remove all templ ates from the Playlist, click Clear All . To delete the Playli st altogether, cli ck Delete Current Playlist . 8 When all configuration changes have been made, click Save to sa[...]

  • Page 90

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 80 Polycom, Inc. Default Playlist The PDS Player and PDS Web Controller ship with a preconfigur ed default playlist: The following templates constitute the default p laylist: • Lower Crawl : the crawl that plays throughou t the playlist. Can be edited in the Crawling Ticker tab in the We[...]

  • Page 91

    Playlist Editor Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 81 • Sports Headlines : a default da ta feed that di spla ys sports new s from a pre-defined feed. Thi s feed updates regularly and populates the template with headlines, stories (usually one or two sentences), and images if possible. • Video 16x9 : Displays a us er-designated widescreen v[...]

  • Page 92

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 82 Polycom, Inc. 2 The Template Parameters screen will appear. 3 To add a live video stream or websit e display, enter the URL in the text field under VideoStr eamSource . 4 To add a static message: a Click the browse ( ... ) button under Message _Title . b In the dialog that appears, choo[...]

  • Page 93

    Playlist Editor Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 83 AddOn PowerPoint Schedule: Displays a PowerPoint slide of your choosing; this template is intended to display a calendar or schedule created in PowerPoint. To add your own schedule templ ate: 1 Click on the Params link beside "AddOn PPT Sche dule." 2 The Template Parameters scr ee[...]

  • Page 94

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 84 Polycom, Inc. 4 PowerPoint will l aunch. You will then have the bel ow PowerPoint slide available for changes and population of your required data. 5 From here you can adjust the default information, including location names, time intervals, meeting na mes, etc., using the PowerPoint ap[...]

  • Page 95

    Playlist Editor Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 85 b Scroll to the bottom of the Selecti on Pane. Toggle layer visibi lity to match styles. The options outlined in dashed red dict ate table style; the options outlined in solid blue dictate background style. 6 Once you have made your changes, save the PowerPoint slide and click Open in the s[...]

  • Page 96

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 86 Polycom, Inc. 1 Click Params . The Template Parameters screen will appear. 2 To add a video: a Click the browse ( ... ) button under Clip Filename . b Choose a video file in the dialog that appears. c Click Open . 3 To add a PowerPoint ticker: a Click the browse ( ... ) button under PPT[...]

  • Page 97

    Playlist Editor Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 87 AddOn Video Fullscreen Displays a full-screen video. To add a video: 1 Click on the Params link. The template dial og window will appear. 2 Click the browse ( ... ) button. Choose a video file from your content directory and click Op en . 3 Click OK . AddOn VideoStream Displays a live video[...]

  • Page 98

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 88 Polycom, Inc. 1 Click on the Params link. The template dial og window will appear. 2 Enter in the source URL for the website you would like to reference. Click OK . Once changes are made, save and distribute to the players. Aler t Fullscreen Displays an alert screen. See Alerts below. D[...]

  • Page 99

    Playlist Editor Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 89 1 Click on the Params link. The template dial og window will appear. a Click the Add File or ... button beside the Datasource field. Locate the .xdsrc file on your computer and click Open . b Remove all pathway and file type information from the chosen file. The Datasource field should cont[...]

  • Page 100

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 90 Polycom, Inc. Message Board Displays the Message Board. For more information, consult Message Board/Webcast below. T rivia Displays a Trivia sequence. To edit the Trivia ques tions and answers: 1 Click on the Params link. The Template Parame ters window will appear. 2 The NumQuestions f[...]

  • Page 101

    Playlist Editor Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 91 4 This will launch Excel and open the spreadsheet: 5 Type in your desired question u nder the Que stion row, four responses in the Options columns, and the correct response in the Answer column. 6 Save your changes in Excel. 7 Launch the Remote Manager application. 8 Click on Publish Conten[...]

  • Page 102

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Crawling Ticker 92 Polycom, Inc. Crawling Ticker The Crawling Ticker is an animated item that runs at t he bottom of the Player screen. The ticker can be populated wi th user-designated text or with an automatically-generated feed of news st ories, ente rtainment news, or sports news. T o change the cr aw[...]

  • Page 103

    Crawling Ticker Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 93 2 If you have chosen a manual crawl, enter your message in the Manual Crawl Text field. If you wish to fill the field with the crawl text cu rrently running on a Player, click Retrieve From Player. Th e Player Retrieval screen will appear. Select a Player and click OK. 3 Click Save. 4 Click[...]

  • Page 104

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Slide Show Tickers 94 Polycom, Inc. Slide Show Tickers The Slide Show Tickers tab allows administrators to directly edit and replace frequently-updated elemen ts of the playlist, the Event Calendar, Product Catalog, and About Company Text . T o update the Event Calendar and Product Ca talog: 1 Click Edit [...]

  • Page 105

    Slide Show Tickers Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 95 Save the file and select the target Player. Do not alter the default save location. 3 If you wish to retrieve a Calendar running on a par ticular Player and redistribute to another Player, click Retrieve from Player . 4 Alternatively, if y ou wish to repl ace rather than edit the existin[...]

  • Page 106

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Video Slide Content 96 Polycom, Inc. Video Slide Content The Video Slide Content tab all ows changes to be made to the video template in the playlist. From this tab, users ca n edit the Sidebar Message, the Standard Format Video Clip List, and the Widescreen Video Cli p List. T o edit the Sidebar M essage[...]

  • Page 107

    Message Board/W ebcast Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 97 2 To change the order of appearance of the clips in the list, use the upward and downward-facing arrows to rearrange the clips. 3 To remove a selected clip, click Re move . To remove all cl ips from a list , click Clear All. 4 Click Save Changes to save change s to the clip list. Cli[...]

  • Page 108

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Message Board/W ebcast 98 Polycom, Inc. T o edit the Message Board: 1 Edit the Text field as ne cessary. To remove all text from the field, click Clear. 2 Click Save to save the text in the field. To interrupt the pl aylist and show the updated Message Board , click Load Message Screen. To reload the pla [...]

  • Page 109

    Alerts Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 99 Aler ts The Alert tab allows content managers to stop the playlist to d isplay an alert screen. T o broad cast an aler t: 1 Edit the Alert Title and Aler t Message text field s as necessary. 2 Choose whether to play one of th e default Audio Alerts as well.[...]

  • Page 110

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Alerts 100 Polycom, Inc. 3 Click Load Aler t Screen and choose a target Player. The ale rt will display. 4 When the alert is no longer necessary, click Restart Playlist.[...]

  • Page 111

    Settings Using the W eb Controller Polycom, Inc. 101 Settings The Settings tab allows you to simply apply overarching customizations to your playlist. Style Sheet A set of default style sheets come pr e-configured with Polycom Digital Signage solution. These stylesheets apply to all templates within a playlist. To apply a new style sheet from among[...]

  • Page 112

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Settings 102 Polycom, Inc.[...]

  • Page 113

    Polycom, Inc. 103 5 Using T emplate Maker This chapter explains the interface and use of the Polycom Template M aker. This chapter contains the following sections: • About Polycom Template Maker • Installing Template Maker • Licensing Template Maker • Navigating the Template Maker Interface • Template Maker Output Setti ngs • Adding and[...]

  • Page 114

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Licensing T emplate Maker 104 Polycom, Inc. 3 Double click on the PDS Template Maker setup .exe file. The PDS Template Maker setup screen appears. Click Next . 4 Designate a destinat ion for the file. The default directory, C:Program FilesPolyco mPDS Template Maker , is recommended. Click Next. 5 Choos[...]

  • Page 115

    Navigating the T emplate Maker Interface Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 105 Navigating the T emplate Maker Inter face The Polycom Template Maker inter face consists of two main sections: the Polycom Template Maker tool and the Microsoft PowerPoint interface that launches beside the Template Maker companion window.. This document assumes famili[...]

  • Page 116

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Navigating the T emplate Maker Inter face 106 Polycom, Inc. The T emplate Maker Companion Window The diagram below depicts the Template Maker companion window as it will appear upon first launch ing Template Maker. Toolbar Current Slide Area Selected Object Area Render Insert Flipbook Launches a dialog fo[...]

  • Page 117

    Navigating the T emplate Maker Interface Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 107 Style Browser To launch the Style Browser, navigate to Tools > Style Browser . Select a Type from the drop-down menu: •T e x t : Displays available text styles. In the Category box, choose from the list of ca tegories.[...]

  • Page 118

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide T emplate Maker Output Settings 108 Polycom, Inc. •O b j e c t s : Displays available graphic objects for each category. Some objects include links to live data. In the Ca tegory box, choose from the list of categories. • Templates: Displays completed templates. In the Ca tegory box, choose from the l[...]

  • Page 119

    T emplate Maker Output Settings Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 109 • Standard: Specifies the dimensions of the video output window. Choose from a list of standard resolutions : 640x480, 720x480 (DV-NTSC), 7 20x486 (NTSC SMPTE), 720x576 (PAL), 800x 600 , 1024x768, 1280x720, 1280x102 4, 1600x1200, and 1920x1080. •C u s t o m : Specifies the [...]

  • Page 120

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide T emplate Maker Output Settings 110 Polycom, Inc. Advanced Settings Renderer Settings The Renderer Settings options of Advanc ed Setting s are described as fol lows: • Renderer IP Address: Displays the IP add ress of the rendering engine. • Renderer Executable Filename: Displays the executable filenam[...]

  • Page 121

    T emplate Maker Output Settings Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 111 Playout Settings The Playout Settings of the Ad vanced Settings are as follows: • Player Mode box: — Standard: Configures the PDS Player to function as an authoring station. — Interactive: Configur es the PDS Play er to function as an interactive/kiosk station. • Intera[...]

  • Page 122

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and W orking with Slides 112 Polycom, Inc. 6 The Messages dialog will appear . Review the information and correct your configuration as necessary. Adding and W orking with Slides Slides comprise all the assets, scripts, and data use d to create a complete PDS template. While individual assets may h[...]

  • Page 123

    Adding and W orking with Slides Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 113 • Auto Clear Slide — If set to True, the slid e will be cleared from the rendered output after a specified interval. • Auto Clear Interval — The time, in seconds, after wh ich a slide will be automatically cleared from the rendered output (if Auto Clear Sl ide is set to[...]

  • Page 124

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and W orking with Slides 114 Polycom, Inc. • Show Clip Proxy — If set to True, displays a thumbnail from a selected video clip as the background of the sl ide (when Background is set to Video Clip). If False, color bars are shown in stead. • Auto Advance — If set to True, automatically adva[...]

  • Page 125

    Adding and W orking with Slides Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 115 4 Position — Position and size of background. Options available are Default, Custom. Modifying Actions on a Slide Slide actions let you au tomatically perf orm certain scripted functions when a slide loads. A series of actions can be created to form an action playlist. The ac[...]

  • Page 126

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and W orking with Slides 116 Polycom, Inc. 8 Choose OK to close the Command Builder dialog box. The action appears in the Playlist Editor. 9 To delete a command, select a command in the Playlist Editor and choose Delete . 10 To edit a command, select a comman d in the Playlist Editor and choose Edi[...]

  • Page 127

    Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 117 2 To browse to an au dio clip on disk , click the browse button. A standard file explorer dialog box appears. 3 Select an audio file and choose Open . The audio fi le appears in the Audio Playlist. 4 To preview the audio fi le, select the file from the Aud io Playli[...]

  • Page 128

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media 118 Polycom, Inc. •D i s p l a y N a m e — Name used to reference the object within the digital signage solution. •F u l l N a m e — Full name of object us ed internally by Microsoft PowerPoint. •T y p e — PowerPoint object type. • Visible — Spec[...]

  • Page 129

    Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 119 Applying a T ext Style With the Text Style Browser, you can apply text styles to text in text objects , and create a text object from an existing text style . T o apply a text style to a PowerPoint object: 1 Create a text box in your PowerPoint presentation. 2 Enter[...]

  • Page 130

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media 120 Polycom, Inc. 1 In the Style Browser, be sure Text is select ed as the Type and right-click. 2 From the menu that appears, choose Edi t . The Style Browser PowerPoint file na med StylesText_Def ault.ppt opens. Notice the Slides tab contains each Text Styl e [...]

  • Page 131

    Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 121 a In the Text Properties tab of the selected text box, click the Text field. The entire string of text is highlighted. b Enter the text you wish to place into the text box. c Press Enter . • Enable Antial iasing — When set to true, edges of text are smoothed. ?[...]

  • Page 132

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media 122 Polycom, Inc. 2 On the Template Maker toolbar, click the I nsert Image button. The Select File dialog box appears. 3 To import an image from the preconfigured Content Library, select the Content Library icon and browse to select an image and click OK . The s[...]

  • Page 133

    Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 123 Modifying Image Proper ties The Image Properties tab reveals options associated specific ally with an image, and a re defined as follows: •U s e K e y — If set to true, u ses an extern al key as an alpha mask, defining which areas of the image are transp arent, [...]

  • Page 134

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media 124 Polycom, Inc. W orking with Media Inser ting Media Polycom Template Mak er provides the ability to import various forms of me d i a a s a ss e t s t o be u s e d i n y o ur d i gital signage application includ ing video clips, live video feeds, live interne [...]

  • Page 135

    Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 125 — Script Module — Name of VBScript module containing the script function. — Script Fun ction — Name of VBScript function to execute when Run Script on Change is set to True. — Run Action on Change — If set to True , execute action whenever the clip is dy[...]

  • Page 136

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media 126 Polycom, Inc. The Video Properties dialog box appears. Features available in the Video Properti es dialog box are defined as follows: •C l i p L i s t — Lists video clip or clips as sociated with the media asset placeholder. Template Mak er lets you crea[...]

  • Page 137

    Adding and Editing T ext, Images, and Media Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 127 • Remove Clip(s) button — Removes selected video clip(s) from the Clip List. •L o o p — When enabled, loops the playback of all video clips list ed in the Clip List. • Randomize list — When enabled, randomizes the playback of video clips list in the Clip[...]

  • Page 138

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing a Crawl 128 Polycom, Inc. Modifying Flipbook Proper ties The Flipbook Properties tab reveals op tions associated specifically with a flipbook, and are defined as follows: • Filename — The file path and firs t filena me of the flipbook sequence. The source of the flipbook can be modi[...]

  • Page 139

    Adding and Editing a Crawl Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 129 3 In the Selected Object area, select the Crawl tab. The slide crawl properties appear. Select a crawl action from the drop-do wn menu. » Do Nothing — Does not affect the state of the crawl. If a crawl is currently playing, it continues to play when the current slide is loaded. ?[...]

  • Page 140

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing a Crawl 130 Polycom, Inc. 5 Set the crawl Type to Manual . 6 Enter text into the Crawl Data text area, entering a line break in between each line of crawl data. 7 Click Apply to instantly preview the crawl on the screen. Creating a Data-Driven Crawl To modify the properties of a crawl, [...]

  • Page 141

    Adding and Editing a Crawl Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 131 6 Set the crawl Type to Data Driven. 7 In the Data Filename field, click Browse to select an Access database or text file. 8 Click Apply to instantly preview the crawl on the screen. Crawl Proper ties Crawl properties apply equally for data -driven and manual crawls. The crawl prope[...]

  • Page 142

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing a Crawl 132 Polycom, Inc. d Set the width and height in the Im age Width and Im age Height fields and click Apply. •O p a c i t y — Specifies the degree of transp arency to the background crawl bar. •S p e e d — Specifies the speed at which the crawl moves in the direction speci[...]

  • Page 143

    Adding and Editing a Crawl Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 133 Setting the Posit ion of a Crawl Open the Layout tab of the Crawl Settings dial og to set the crawl position within the template. •X P o s — Specifies the horizontal begin point of the crawl (in pixels). •Y P o s — Specifies the vertical posi tion of the crawl (in pixels). ?[...]

  • Page 144

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrato r Guide Adding Clocks and Tickers 134 Polycom, Inc. Adding Clocks and Tickers Adding a Clock Using Template Maker, text boxes can be configured to receive dynamic text, su ch a s a r un ni n g c lo c k o r da te f ie l d, as o pp os e d t o si m pl e t e xt th a t i s e n te r ed at design time into t he text bo[...]

  • Page 145

    Adding Clocks and Tickers Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 135 7 In the Type drop-down list, select Clock . 8 Enable the Render output on change field, which automatically updates the ticker on the output when the object changes values. 9 In the Clock Settings area of the Tick er Properties dialog box, select a clock type from Type drop-down lis[...]

  • Page 146

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrato r Guide Adding Clocks and Tickers 136 Polycom, Inc. 20 To delete a ticker, select the ticker in the Clocks and Tickers tab and choose Remove . 21 To copy a ticker from one slide to anot her, select the ticker in the Clocks and Tickers tab and choose Copy . 22 To paste a ticker that’s been pre viously copied, f[...]

  • Page 147

    Adding Clocks and Tickers Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 137 7 In the Type drop-down list, select Ticker . 8 Enable the Render output on change field, which automatically updates the ticker on the output when the object changes values. In the Data Source area of the Tick er Properties dialo g box, click the Browse… button to link to a databa[...]

  • Page 148

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrato r Guide Adding Clocks and Tickers 138 Polycom, Inc. •S o r t F i e l d box — Select a field in which to sort the contents of the table when Sort results is enabled. The SQL options are described as follows: •S Q L S t r i n g field — S pecify an SQL query to extract data from the database file. For detai[...]

  • Page 149

    W orking with Objects Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 139 • Auto start on load — Begins displaying items i n the database immediately after the slide is rendered to the screen. • Advance to next slide after last record — Proceed to the next slide in the playlist after all records from the database have been displayed . • Copy data fil[...]

  • Page 150

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide W orking with Animations 140 Polycom, Inc. W orking with Object Groups Individual slide elements can be grou ped together and treated as a single object. When you use the Group comma nd to group objects, you combine t h e m s o y o u c a n wo rk wi t h t h e m a s th o u gh they were a single object. You [...]

  • Page 151

    W orking with Animations Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 141 —A n i m a t i o n T y p e — S el e c t fr o m a l i st o f p r edefined animation effects. See “About Template Maker Animat ions” for a description of each animation. —P r e v i e w b u t t o n —Previews the selected an imation effect in the CG Renderer. —O f f s e t b [...]

  • Page 152

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Saving a T emplate 142 Polycom, Inc. •S c a l e Y : the object will appear compressed, and will stretch out along the vertical axis of the slide, as though it is “growing” up from the bottom of the slide. •S c a l e Y + F a d e : the object wi ll fade into view appearing compressed, and will stret[...]

  • Page 153

    Saving a T emplate Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 143 5 To assign the template to one or more specific categories, in the Categories area, i n the Existing Categori es list box, browse to an ava ilable category and choose Add Selected. 6 To assign the template to a new catego ry, in the Selected Categories area, choose Add New Categ ory . 7 In[...]

  • Page 154

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Saving a T emplate 144 Polycom, Inc. 10 In the Template Parameters area, to add a variable parameter to the object that can be modified when the template is added to a playlist in the Web Controller, choose Add. 11 The Template Parameter Properties dialog box appears. The options available in the Template[...]

  • Page 155

    Saving a T emplate Using T emplate Maker Polycom, Inc. 145 — Target Property — Depending on the Target Type, specifies what property of the par ameter is target ed. For example, when Target Type is Object, and Target is a text box, Target Property fields available are Text, Font, Color. When Target Type is Object, and Target is an image, Target[...]

  • Page 156

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Saving a T emplate 146 Polycom, Inc.[...]

  • Page 157

    Polycom, Inc. 147 6 Using the Data Parser This chapter explains the interface and use of the P olycom Digital Signage Data Parser. This chapter contains the following sections: • About the PDS Data Parser • Creating a Data Source • Using a Data Source About the PDS Data Parser The Polycom Digital Signage Data Parser allow s administrators to [...]

  • Page 158

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Creating a Data Source 148 Polycom, Inc. 3 The RSS Wiza rd will appear. Click Next . 4 You will be prompted to designate a Data Feed Name and Database File , which should be changed from the de fault. These values must contain no spaces. You will also be prompted to enter the URL for your data source: a E[...]

  • Page 159

    Creating a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 149 5 After designating a Data Feed na me, URL, and Databa se File, enter the Refresh Interval . This value determines th e time, in seconds, between live updates of the RSS feed. Click Next. 6 The Title Format window will appear. a Choose a Case Conversion method, if necessary, to modify t[...]

  • Page 160

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Creating a Data Source 150 Polycom, Inc. 7 The Story Format window will appear. a Choose a Case Conversion method, if necessary, to modify the capitalization of all text contained in the Story section of the feed. b If necessary, enter Search and Replace formatting as described above. c If you wish to exc[...]

  • Page 161

    Creating a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 151 8 Verify the formatting and content of the incoming data feed by examining the text in the Data Preview panel. Click Next . 9 The completion screen will appear. Click Finish . NOTE: Not all RSS feeds can be parsed and displayed correctly . Please confirm that titles and stories appear ,[...]

  • Page 162

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Licensing Data Parser 152 Polycom, Inc. 10 The feed create d in the RSS Wizard will now appear a s a Data Source in the Data Parser main menu. This means that a Data Definition .xml file and a .mdb Database File will now appear in the PDS Data Parser directory. For all subsequent steps, however, you will [...]

  • Page 163

    Using a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 153 Using a Data Source After a Data Source is created, it can th en be used to replace the sources in the Entertainment, Breaking, and Sports Ne ws default playlist templates or to create a new FSData template. Wi th th e Remote Manager and Web Controller tools, administrators can distribute [...]

  • Page 164

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Using a Data Source 154 Polycom, Inc. 4 Add the .xdsrc file to the Content Update. Right-click on the file and select Change Target Path . Enter the target path C:PolycomContent Data. 5 Click Next . Designate the Content Update Properties and all Target Players that will need to display the content and [...]

  • Page 165

    Using a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 155 8 Navigate to the Playlist Editor ta b. 9 To edit an exis ting templ ate, click Params next to that template. Please note that only the Entertainment Ne ws, Breaking News, and Sports Headlines default templates are a ppropriate for RSS feeds imported To create a new template, choose the Da[...]

  • Page 166

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Using a Data Source 156 Polycom, Inc. 10 The Template Parameters Window appears. a Click the Add File or .. . button beside the Datasource Field. Locate the .xdsrc file on your computer and click Open . b Remove all pathway and file type information from the chosen file. The Datasource field should contai[...]

  • Page 167

    Using a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 157 12 The new Template should appear in the PDS Play er output. Th e Data Parser will update the Templa te as new material appears.[...]

  • Page 168

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Using a Data Source 158 Polycom, Inc.[...]

  • Page 169

    Polycom, Inc. 159 7 Non-Standard Installations This chapter outlines potential changes to th e standard Polycom Digital Signage Server. This chapter includes the following sections: • The PDS Server Conf iguration Util ity • Downloading and Installing the Agent The PDS Ser ver Configuration Utility The Polycom Digital Signage Server includes a [...]

  • Page 170

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guid e The PDS Ser ver Configuration Utility 160 Polycom, Inc. • From the Server tab, administrators can design ate a server address, the ports used by the server, the file tr ansfer directory, and whether it is functioning as a primar y or secondary server. Port configuration information is detailed in the f[...]

  • Page 171

    The PDS Ser ver Configuration Utility Non-Standard Installations Polycom, Inc. 161 • From the Service tab, users can start, stop, and monitor the status of the PDS Server service. Renaming the Ser ver The PDS Server Configuration Util ity allows you to rename the PD S Server. T o rename the PDS Ser ver: 1 Open the PDS Server Configuration Utility[...]

  • Page 172

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guid e Downloading and Installing the Agent 162 Polycom, Inc. T o change por ts: 1 Open the PDS Server Configuration Utility. 2 In the Server tab, provide a new Primary Port and Secondary Port . 3 Click Save in the PDS Server Configuration Utility toolbar. 4 In the Service tab, click Stop to stop the Poly com D[...]

  • Page 173

    Downloading and Installing the Agent Non-Standard Installations Polycom, Inc. 163 3 Copy the Agent i nstaller executable file from th e download location to the PDS Player. 4 Directly or remotely access the Play er appliance. double-click on the Agent installer. The setup wizard will appear. Click Next . 5 A license agreement will appear. Select I [...]

  • Page 174

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guid e Downloading and Installing the Agent 164 Polycom, Inc. Changing Agent Settings on a Player Polycom recommends downloading and distributing a new Player Agent when configuration changes have been made. The Agent configuration can be directly changed on each Player, however, to reflect PDS Server setting c[...]

  • Page 175

    Downloading and Installing the Agent Non-Standard Installations Polycom, Inc. 165 4 In the Connection Sett ings tab, enter your new Server Name and/or Server Port . Click Test Connection to confirm that the changes have been made correctly. Click OK to complete.[...]

  • Page 176

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guid e Downloading and Installing the Agent 166 Polycom, Inc.[...]

  • Page 177

    Polycom, Inc. 167 A Appendix A: Player Commands This appendix contains a list of the commands available for use in P olycom Digital Signage applica tions and required parameters : • Standard Commands • Player-Specific Commands Standard Commands APPENDTOFILE |Filename|<Text to write. R eplace line breaks with '<BR>' or '{[...]

  • Page 178

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Standard Commands 168 Polycom, Inc. MUTEAUDIOCHA NNEL|<Mixer channe l>|<Mute (True/ False)> PLAYANIMATIO N|<Object name>|<Layer >|<Offset>|<Dur ation>|<X1>| <X2>|<Y1>|<Y 2>|<Opacity1 >|<Opacity2> |<ScaleX1>|<Sca leX2>|<[...]

  • Page 179

    Player-Specific Commands Appendix A: Player Commands Polycom, Inc. 169 SIMPLECRAWL| <Layer>|<Image fil ename>|<Back Color (Black=0)>|< ForeColor (White=16777 215)>|<YPos>|<H eight>|<Font Size>|<';' d elimited text> SIMPLECRAWLU NICODE|<Layer>| <Image filen ame>|<BackCo lor (Bl[...]

  • Page 180

    Polycom Digital Signage Administr a tor Guide Player-Specific Commands 170 Polycom, Inc. SETLICENSEKE Y|<License Key> STARTPLAYLIS T|<Playlist number (optional, defa ult=1)> STOPPLAYLIST |<Playlist numb er(optional, default=1)>[...]

  • Page 181

    Polycom, Inc. 171 B Appendix B: Data Parser This appendix contains a tutorial, examples and a reference guide for creating custom data source definition files. Cr eating a data source definition is an advanced topic that requires in-dep th knowledge of pattern m atching, Internet protocols and formats such as HTTP, HTML and particular ly XML. This [...]

  • Page 182

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source Definition File Over view 172 Polycom, Inc. For example, the following is invalid: <StartTag>"H ello & Goodbye" </StartTag> Instead, the special characters must be replaced: <StartTag>&q uot;Hello &amp; Goodbye&quo t;</StartTag > Note that all [...]

  • Page 183

    Data Source Definiti on File Over view Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 173 the table, and will create an index fo r this column. The default for KeyField is False. Regardless of the table structure schema, Data Pa rser alw ays i nserts two additional columns into the table: — An ID column that contains a serial number for each row. Serial n[...]

  • Page 184

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source Definition File Over view 174 Polycom, Inc. • Result specifies the name of the container that should receive the output of the pasring rule. Ultimately, parsin g rule results need to be placed into the data table fields defined in the <TableStructure> element, and so the names of the d[...]

  • Page 185

    Data Source Definiti on File Over view Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 175 <SearchText> Football</Searc hText> <NewText>Bas eball</NewText> </ParsingRul e> The following parsing rule sets the valu e of the City container to "New York, NY". <ParsingRule Type="SetValue " Result="Ci ty&qu[...]

  • Page 186

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source Definition File Over view 176 Polycom, Inc. • URL can be used to specify a new source that is only used for the parsing rules contained in the <DataItem> ele ment. The URL is resolved and its contents are placed into the "Sour ce" container before any of the DataItem's p[...]

  • Page 187

    Data Sour ce T utorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 177 <ParsingRule Type="TrimFrom Start" Sourc e="Equation" Result="Vari able"> <SearchText> =</SearchText> </ParsingRul e> <ParsingRule Type="TrimToEnd" Sou rce="Equatio n" Result="Valu e"> <Search[...]

  • Page 188

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source T utorial 178 Polycom, Inc. General Settings The general settings for the weather data source are straightforward. We tell Data Parser to refresh the feed ev ery hour (i.e. 3600 seconds), to allow duplicate rows in the table, to fetch the feed from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/zi pcity.php?i nputst[...]

  • Page 189

    Data Sour ce T utorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 179 topmargin="0 " rightmargin=" 0" marginwid th="0" marginheight ="0" bgcolor="# FFFFFF" background=" /images/wtf/gra y_background .gif"><table cellspacing= "0" cellpadding ="0" border= "0" wi[...]

  • Page 190

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source T utorial 180 Polycom, Inc. pdate"><b>La st Update:</b></a > 8:38 am EDT Jul 5, 2007 <br><a href="http:/ /www.weather.go v/glossary/i ndex.php?wor d=foreca st+valid+for "><b>Forecast V alid:</b></a > 11am EDT J ul 5, 2007-6pm ED[...]

  • Page 191

    Data Sour ce T utorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 181 color="#0033 CC">67&deg;F</f ont></td><td width="11%"> <b>Saturday<br> </b><br><img src="/images /wtf/few.jpg" wi dth="55" heigh t="58" alt="M ostly Sunny" titl e="Most[...]

  • Page 192

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source T utorial 182 Polycom, Inc. is 20%.<br>< br><b>Friday Ni ght: </b>A s light chance of showers and thunderstorms be fore 10pm. Pa rtly cloudy, with a low around 67 . Northwest wind be tween 6 and 13 mp h. Chance of precipita tion is 20%.<br ><br><b>Satu[...]

  • Page 193

    Data Sour ce T utorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 183 width="11%"> <b>Tonight<br>< /b><br><img src="/images /wtf/ntsra80.jp g" width="55" height="58" alt="Heavy Rain Chance for Measurable P recipitation 80%" title=" Heavy Rain Chance for M easurable Prec[...]

  • Page 194

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source T utorial 184 Polycom, Inc. All of the remaining parsing rules in th is tutorial are contained in this DataItem element. In the HTML we've isolated, each cell of the table row contains the forecast for a day part. For example , the cell cont ains the forecast for "Today" (we&apo[...]

  • Page 195

    Data Sour ce T utorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 185 Now that we've isolated the weather data for a single day part, we can extract that data and save it in a row of our table. First we obtai n the name of the day part using a GetTag rule to extract the text the lies between the <b> and </b> tags in the DaySource contai[...]

  • Page 196

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source T utorial 186 Polycom, Inc. </ParsingRul e> </DataItem> This changes the way Data Pa rse handles the s econd rule. Because it is a now child rule, the current DataItem iteration is not passed to it as an Index value. This makes the rule use the default in dex value (1), and so it n[...]

  • Page 197

    Data Sour ce T utorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 187 First we need to extract the value of the title attribute using another GetTag rule (which, again, is insert ed as a child of the first rule) that extracts the text between "title="" ( including the ope ning quote charact er) and the closing quote character: <Parsing[...]

  • Page 198

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source T utorial 188 Polycom, Inc. Finally, let' s extract the day part's weather image URL and download the image file so t hat it's available on the local machine. The image URL is made up of the web site address (http://www .erh.noaa.gov) concatenated with the value of the HTML <[...]

  • Page 199

    Data Sour ce T utorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 189 /tsra70.jpg Only when GetTag reaches that last string does it assume it s found the innermost StartTag, and so then it retu rns whatever lies between the StartTag and the EndTag. With the (extensionless) image file name in hand we can now construct a local path for the image file, and[...]

  • Page 200

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source T utorial 190 Polycom, Inc. <ParsingRule type="TrimToEn d" source="S ource" result="Sour ce"> <SearchText> Forecast at a Glance</Se archText> </ParsingRul e> <ParsingRule type="GetTag" source="Sour ce" result=" S[...]

  • Page 201

    Data Sour ce T utorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 191 <EndTag>&lt; /font&gt;</EndT ag> </ParsingRul e> <ParsingRule type="ReplaceT ag" source=" Temp" result ="Temp"> <StartTag>&l t;font</StartTa g> <EndTag>&gt; </EndTag> <NewText/> </Pa[...]

  • Page 202

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 192 Polycom, Inc. Parsing Rule Reference Guide This section describes all the parsi ng rules you can use with Da ta Parser. GetImage The GetImage rule downloads a file (not just image fil es) from a URL to a local file. The Source and Result attribut es are required, but ignor[...]

  • Page 203

    Parsing Rule Reference Guide Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 193 The following rule extracts whatev er text lies between the fifth occurrence of "here" and "there". <ParsingRule Type="GetTag" Source="Sour ce" Result=" Replaced"> <StartTag>he re</StartTag> <EndTag>ther e[...]

  • Page 204

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 194 Polycom, Inc. Example: <ParsingRule Type="Lcase" Source=" SomeSource" Result="AllSmallLetters" /> Left The Left rule extracts a specified number of characters from the beginning of the Source container. Parameters: • Length: The number[...]

  • Page 205

    Parsing Rule Reference Guide Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 195 Mid The Mid rule extracts a string of a spec ified len gth from a specified starting character in the Source container. Parameters: • Length: The number of characters to extract. • Start: The character position in the Source container from which to extract the characters. Ex[...]

  • Page 206

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 196 Polycom, Inc. ReadT extFile The ReadTextFile rule loads the contents of a text file into the Result container. The Source attribute is required, but ignored. Parameters: • Filename: The path and name of the file to load. Example: The following rule loads the contents of [...]

  • Page 207

    Parsing Rule Reference Guide Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 197 ReplaceCharacterCodes The ReplaceCharacterCodes rule replac es all occurrences of various HTML character codes with their true characters. Parameters: None Example: <ParsingRuleT ype="ReplaceCharac terCodes" Source="SomeS ource" Result="Capit alized&q[...]

  • Page 208

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 198 Polycom, Inc. Example: If the LongString contai ner contains "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" then the following rule will place "vwxyz" in the Shor tStuff container. <ParsingRule Type ="Right" Source="LongS tring" Result="Sh ort[...]

  • Page 209

    Parsing Rule Reference Guide Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 199 StrCat The StrCat rule concatenates two stri ngs, optionally adding a space between them. The Source attribute is required, but ignored. Parameters: • String1 (taggable): The string that will be the start of the result. • String2 (taggable): The string that will be the end o[...]

  • Page 210

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 200 Polycom, Inc. T rimFromEnd, T rimFromStar t, T rimT oEnd and T romT oStar t Th e s e f ou r r u l e s a l l r em o v e s om e t e x t f r o m t he s o u r ce c o n t ai n e r . T he y a l l ta k e the same parameter, SearchText. The rule s differ in whether they trim the b[...]

  • Page 211

    Polycom, Inc. 201 C Appendix C: Configuration Files This appendix outlines the procedure to change PDS Player settings via the Remote Manager. Please note that th is appendix is intended only for sophisticated users. Contact P oly com Support before changing any configuration files. Changing Output Settings with the XPT .ini Configuration File All [...]

  • Page 212

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Changing Output Settings with the XPT .ini Configuration File 202 Polycom, Inc. 3 Click Edit Confi g in the Remote Player Mana gement Console toolbar. A drop-down menu will appear.[...]

  • Page 213

    Changing Output Settings with the XPT .ini Configuration File Appendix C: Configuration Files Polycom, Inc. 203 4 Choose XPT.ini . The file editor will launch. 5 To change the output resolution of the target player or players: a Scroll to [Output Settings ] . b If your Player uses one of the st andard resolutions, enter a value for StandardOut putD[...]

  • Page 214

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Changing Output Settings with the XPT .ini Configuration File 204 Polycom, Inc. » StandardOut putDims=1 : 720x480 resolution. » StandardOut putDims=2 : 720x486 resolution. » StandardOut putDims=3 : 720x576 resolution. » StandardOut putDims=4 : 800x600 resolution. » StandardOut putDims=5 : 1024x768 re[...]

  • Page 215

    Changing Output Settings with the XPT .ini Configuration File Appendix C: Configuration Files Polycom, Inc. 205 12 In the Select Target Players dialog th at appears, indicate to which Players you wish to save the changed configuration file. Cl ick OK. 13 The Request window will appear. The file will update and the configuration changes should apply[...]

  • Page 216

    Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Changing Output Settings with the XPT .ini Configuration File 206 Polycom, Inc.[...]